In my U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,775, which issued on Sept. 20, 1983 I disclosed new and novel rain-water deflector devices. Such devices utilize surface tension to overcome other forces acting upon rain-water falling down the surface of a roof, to cause the rain-water to be deflected into the associated gutter while leaves, pine-needles, sticks, and other debris borne by the water are jettisoned away from the gutter. As a result, clogging of the rain gutters is avoided and it is unnecessary to clean them out manually. Devices embodying that patent, which are currently being marketed commercially under the trademark "Gutter Helmet", have proved successful. However, considerable effort has been expended on means for mounting such deflectors that will be efficacious, inexpensive, and easy and quick to install, but, at the same time, will not introduce other difficulties. For example, it was clear from the outset that such deflectors would have to be anchored securely against wind, rain and other forces. However, simply screwing the outermost end of the deflector bracket to the outer lip of an associated gutter presented several difficulties. Whether being so installed by one working from the roof (a usual situation) or by one working from beside the gutter, even if the lowest end of a bracket were pre-drilled to receive a screw extending through the gutter lip and into the bracket, the work had to be done essentially "blind" because visibility of the bracket end is blocked by the gutter edge. Such practices are not only tedious in requiring that the various alignments be made "blind" but are also dangerous, particularly to one working from the roof and having to reach out over the edge to set screws and to make drill holes through the gutter lip and the bracket end. Further, the rain-water deflector is in close proximity to virtually the entire gutter-roof edge area. This provides little space in which to work and severely restricts the available light and visibility of the worksites. Further, disturbance of existing structures is undesirable, as by dis-assembly to any extent of the existing gutter structures in order to get access to the existing gutter brackets. In addition, such procedures may be too intricate or extensive for home-owners or other non-skilled tradesmen who may be involved in rain-water deflectors as a "retro-fit" of existing gutter systems. In this connection, reference is made to my U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,146 which issued on 2/5/85 and the references cited therein. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide means for the installation of rain-water deflectors.
Another object of this invention is to provide such means in a form which will be easy to utilize with existing gutter systems.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide means for achieving the foregoing objectives which will not require substantial reconstruction of existing gutter systems.
Still another object of this invention is to provide means for achieving the foregoing objectives which will also accomodate the physical changes which may occur after installation, such as thermal expansion and construction.